DAMASCUS (Dispatches) – An explosion rocked a U.S. military base in Syria’s northeastern province of Hasakah on Thursday night, a pro-government radio station reported.
The blast was heard at a U.S. military base located in the Shaddadi area, in what appeared to be a drone attack, according to the Sham FM radio.
No more details were provided, but the base and other U.S. military bases in eastern Syria have been subject to drone attacks recently against the backdrop of the Zionist military campaign in the Gaza Strip.
Lebanon’s Arabic-language al-Mayadeen television news network, citing local sources, reported that the drone hit the facility in al-Shaddadi town, located about 50 kilometers (31 miles) south of Hasakah.
Meanwhile, a military facility occupied by U.S. forces in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region has also come under attack by explosive-laden drones, the latest in a series of strikes on American forces in the two neighboring countries.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of anti-terror fighters, in a statement published on its Telegram channel claimed responsibility for the early Friday morning attack on U.S. forces based near the Erbil International Airport.
It noted that the base was targeted by two drones, linking the assault to the U.S. support for the Zionist regime’s bloody military campaign against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder confirmed during a press briefing that American troops were targeted in Erbil.
“We are aware of an attack today against U.S. forces at Erbil air base in Iraq,” he said.
“Between October 17 and 18, Eastern Time, 21 U.S. personnel received minor injuries due to drone attacks at al-Asad air base in Iraq and al-Tanf garrison in Syria,” Ryder said.
“At Tanf garrison, during these two days, there were 17 U.S. personnel who sustained minor injuries, 15 of whom were diagnosed with TBI - Traumatic Brain Injury. At al-Asad air base, four personnel were diagnosed with TBI but no other injured and again in all cases members returned to duty,” he noted.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday urged Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani to pursue the attackers of U.S. bases and troops in Iraq, according to the State Department.